Antique Mongolian Elephant Silver, Coral, & Turquoise Snuff Bottle

Antique Mongolian Elephant Silver, Coral, & Turquoise Snuff Bottle

Antique snuff bottle crafted from silver fashioned with elephant designs in relief and lion head handles and adorned with coral, coral tone, and turquoise beads.

Total weight: 74.75 g.

CIRCA: 19th Century, possibly older

ORIGIN: Mongolia

DIMENSIONS: H: 7.5 cm W: 3 cm  L: 5.7 cm

CONDITION: Minor tarnishing consistent with age and use

Snuff and snuff bottles were popular with the upper class in Central Asia by the end of the 17th century through the 18th C. Snuff bottles were not just objects of beauty but came to represent status and wealth.

Made with different materials including precious stones and silver, Mongolian snuff bottles are highly detailed, ornate and very collectible. The Mongolian snuff bottles are a testament to the land’s artistic traditionThe size of a snuff bottle is small enough to fit inside the palm, with a stopper that has a very small spoon attached to extract the snuff. Snuff bottles were made out of many different materials including silver.

Snuff bottles hold a special place in Mongolian culture. Seen as the equivalent of a handshake- the exchange of snuff bottles has the singular power to unite strangers. Strangers meet and extend to the other their snuff bottles, after exchanging both sample gently the others snuff before returning to its original owner. The exchange of snuff bottles is considered a symbol of earnest intention; of a warm greeting and the hope of an enduring relationship, and developed into a social rite which is practiced even today.